Is This Thing On?2025

The alchemical collision of the actors, the style, and the real-life settings result in a film so attentive to fluctuations in the characters’ emotions that watching them exist is exciting. You never know what these people will feel next or how they’ll express it, and the camera’s always in the perfect place to catch it.

Woof. This gets a very generous 5 as Laura Dern and Will Arnett are excellent in this - though Laura Dern - as always - just steals every scene. Beyond that - this is a pretty bad movie.... one that upon reflection will get worse and worse as its failings become clearer the further you get away from watching it. This just feels like a movie made by and for celebrities how have had a lot of therapy.... especially to deal with relationships. People in real life don't actually do constant deep dives into their psyche and emotional trauma - in - well - everything they say. These people are all people you'd hate to hang out with, they would be exhausting. The dialogue is awful... great example is at the end of the movie (spoiler alert) when Alex tells Tess that he was unhappy IN their marriage but he wasn't unhappy WITH their marriage. The big moment of truth is when he tells Tess that he wants to be unhappy WITH her IN their marriage together! Really - you love her SO much that you want to spend the rest of your life unhappy - but together? Alex's standup's are - well - bad. Not that Alex isn't capable on stage. I 'guess' he is relatable (if you want to hear a guy get on stage and **** about his wife/marriage/relationship)... but at no point is anything in his comedy routine EVER remotely humorous. Why couldn't these be funny scenes? (I think the writers/creators wanted to keep this very moody and morose tone going throughout the movie and not break that up with - well - entertainment.) All the female comics you hear on stage (before or after Alex) are only making 'jokes' about their ****.... is this a thing? There is a scene where Alex shows Tess a poster he had made up - of Tess when she was playing as a USA Olympic volleyball player. Tess loses it.. .she is SO insulted that he loves a photo of her from 20 years ago... then when he gets rid of that and replaces it with a really awful - but current picture of her - she's all in! In another scene - Alex is on stage and doesn't know that Tess is attending the show with a date (a pretty wooden Peyton Manning). Tess had no idea Alex was doing standup. I guess the odds of Tess being at a small hole in the wall comedy club at the exact time Alex is doing a set - in downtown Manhattan - are pretty huge - because that happened. Alex does his usual set **** about his ex-wife (Tess). Tess appears upset but after - when Alex runs Tess down on the street - rather than being upset - Tess is - turned on - and they quickly go and have the best sex they have ever had... no - I'm not making this up. There is one funny line... when Alex and Tess are 'digging deep' into their issues - Alex describes how he could tell that Tess is mad but Tess doesn't say anything - Alex has to 'guess' why she's mad... In this case Tess finally admits that Alex is more fun and open with his friends than with her... and she'd like him to talk with her like he talks with his friends. so Alex says "... so my wife is a complete ****" Bradley Cooper plays Alex's closest friend and we never have any idea who or what that character is... there is no reason for his existence - just another avenue for deep and unwarranted/boring introspection... friends (people) don't talk like this... I guess we're supposed to believe that Alex and Tess are two unhappy people but they should be together because they love each other. "Is This Thing On' - feels like a celebrities' fantasy after too many years of therapy.

As personal as some of this material feels, it feels like a real collaboration of artists, all enabling Cooper to tell a heartfelt story with universal scope. Cooper’s not one of our finest filmmakers, but like Alex, he’s getting better with each effort. And whether you’re talking about relationships, comedy, or life itself, effort counts for a lot.